Algonquin Adventures / Backcountry Pet Peeves

**Posted by Blobsquatch** 9/15/2017 11:26 am

There are some really good ones on this list!

Here's one that gets me...nails driven into trees to hang stuff. Completely unnecessary harm to the tree, just tie paracord around the tree trunk.

**Posted by Algonquintripper** 9/16/2017 7:30 am

Blobsquatch wrote:
There are some really good ones on this list!

Here's one that gets me...nails driven into trees to hang stuff. Completely unnecessary harm to the tree, just tie paracord around the tree trunk.

What really amazes me is the thought of some guy going over his gear list and saying
"Oh! Almost forgot my hammer and 4" nails,"

**Posted by CanoeClaire** 9/18/2017 9:10 am

Algonquintripper wrote:
What really amazes me is the thought of some guy going over his gear list and saying
"Oh! Almost forgot my hammer and 4" nails,"

I always use nails if they are there but branch stubs and tying paracord work just as well. But I have never really thought of how they got there in the first place. WHY WOULD SOMEONE CARRY IN NAILS!? WHY!?!

I remember a story on here once about a group carrying in a portable sauna and THAT makes more sense to me than having a hammer and nails in your pack.

**Posted by dontgroandaddy** 9/18/2017 9:51 am

I have a trip report brewing that will deal with some of this, but here are two more. Giant pioneering projects created and left standing in the campsite, and tying clothes/tarp lines up so high in trees that it isn't possible to get them down later so they cut the lines and the site ends up with a bunch of trees that have rope necklaces/nooses.

**Posted by hiker72** 9/18/2017 2:46 pm

For me, the only thing worse than encountering garbage at a site is seeing garbage and food leftovers crammed in the thunderbox. We just came back from a 3 day backpack trip and made a pitstop at Guskewau Lake on the way in where this occurred. To top it off, I think the genius(es) who did this deployed bear spray on top of it, hitting some of the seat in the process, and giving my buddy some nasty skin irritation. Good lord people, use your brains... yet another reason why I prefer the further in sites.

**Posted by Methye** 9/18/2017 10:27 pm

As mentioned above...

The ropes in the trees!

Wouldn't you do some research if you knew you would have to hang food? Has nobody learned the PCT method of hanging a bear bag? And why would you hang your food right in the camp?

Okay this one will get me in trouble, because they seem very common, but...who thought packing food in a heavy blue barrel would be a good idea? It's heavy, and provides no protection from a determined bear. It doesn't protect your food from breakage, because of course your food is packed in soft containers or ziplocs. Requires a special harness. Always see poor German tourists trying to tote these heavy bulky things around because they are told that is what you must do. I've never understood the appeal.

Last edited by Methye (9/18/2017 10:37 pm)

**Posted by Jdbonney** 9/19/2017 6:29 am

They started out being cheap waterproof packs(usually free because they were emptied of olives and thrown out until paddlers started grabbing them). my wife and I use a small blue barrel for our food pack. I carry the little barrel and the canoe. She carries a canoe pack. Around camp it makes a fantastic stool and at the end of the night the whole barrel goes up the tree.

**Posted by Shayne74** 9/19/2017 10:48 am

We have a barrel lined with insulation and acts as a cooler as well. Food. Group gear. Ropes etc. Go in the barrel. It's a great stool/table/ step stool etc. I don't mind it but it can be cumbersome. Really depends on the type of trip planned whether we use the barrel or not. More of a Basecamp type trip accessory IMO.

Last edited by Shayne74 (9/19/2017 10:52 am)

**Posted by Jdbonney** 9/19/2017 3:20 pm

I love my barrel. I like knowing that no rodents can steal my food. I know a bear could easily tear it open but its airtight so smells are minimized and hung up a tree it's pretty fool proof.

**Posted by Shayne74** 9/19/2017 6:08 pm

" Fool proof." Ha ha! Unless you bring a little dry ice and don't remove the plug lol! That could have been bad!

**Posted by Methye** 9/19/2017 6:18 pm

I never thought of the stool / table aspect of the barrel...

@dont groan daddy Speaking of engineering projects...I just found a cooking shelf between two trees that looks like it was made with the benches from around the fireplace. well-made, though...

Last edited by Methye (9/19/2017 6:21 pm)

**Posted by trippythings** 9/19/2017 6:53 pm

Methye wrote:
Okay this one will get me in trouble, because they seem very common, but...who thought packing food in a heavy blue barrel would be a good idea? It's heavy, and provides no protection from a determined bear. It doesn't protect your food from breakage, because of course your food is packed in soft containers or ziplocs. Requires a special harness. Always see poor German tourists trying to tote these heavy bulky things around because they are told that is what you must do. I've never understood the appeal.

I bring the barrel whenever it makes sense. If I'm going solo for 2-3 nights, there's no point in filling a barrel 1/5th of the way and bringing it along. But I like the barrel because it's practically scent proof compared to a dry pack. Yes a bear can still get into barrels, but the idea is that they won't be attracted to it in the first place. And if it's hung properly, they'll have a hard time getting to it anyways. I definitely feel more comfortable when I have the barrel, especially if I'm bringing smelly foods like sausage, etc.

I don't really care about food breakage since I've never had that issue with any of the foods I bring. The one thing I dislike about the barrel is that it doesn't get smaller as you eat, like a pack would.

If it was between single carrying or bringing the barrel, I wouldn't bring it; but if I'm able to bring it without it affecting my portaging, I'll bring it.

**Posted by Shayne74** 9/19/2017 7:20 pm

Is that site on Misty?

**Posted by Methye** 9/20/2017 6:36 am

It's Burnt Island Lake, site 22 on the PCI map. Yellow star...
And the fireplace is pretty magnificent.

Last edited by Methye (9/20/2017 6:38 am)

**Posted by solosal** 9/20/2017 8:23 pm

A couple of things are my back country pet peeves: people not wearing their life jackets is one. when I went life jacketing shopping with a family member he seriously considered the worth of his life verses the cost of the life jacket and hence the life jacket won and he wears it religiously (and I'd kick his a** if he didn't). second is garbage - seriously folks read and re-read the backcountry rules when you venture in and follow them. I am not interested in fending off wildlife because of your negligence.